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Batteries Come up for Air

Promising energy storage systems can now be selectively optimized

Jülich, 9 May 2016 – At the moment, lithium-ion batteries are state of the art in energy storage. However, competitors are already waiting in the wings, including lithium-air technology. A team from Forschungszentrum Jülich and Technische Universität München recently found an explanation for the fact that these promising batteries so far only survive a few charge cycles. They demonstrated that the operation of lithium-air batteries leads to the formation of a particularly reactive form of oxygen. As reported in the current edition of the journal Angewandte Chemie, this singlet oxygen is probably responsible for the electrolyte rapidly decomposing and the carbon electrode corroding. This discovery will make it possible to selectively improve lithium-air batteries.